Heat force Pistons to stagger instead of swagger

Miami's precision in building 3-1 lead humbles Detroit

By Jonathan Feigen |
May 31, 2006

AUBURN HILLS, MICH. - They had been so many things in their two seasons atop the Eastern Conference. Cantankerous and stubborn, defiant and occasionally insufferable, the Pistons made themselves a nasty defensive force with equal parts mood and method, snarling at the doubts they never completely erased.

They liked it that way, even as they so often found themselves in desperate playoff predicaments, as if that added to their aura as a team able to sneer at the suppositions.

Then the Heat on Monday pushed Detroit into a 3-1 hole in the Eastern Conference finals, with Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal showing no signs they could be stopped. Finally, the Pistons seemed to be fighting off a far different mindset than the one that marked their run — acceptance of their fate.

"Wade and Shaq, they're still shooting at a high percentage," Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince said. "If they continue to shoot the way they're shooting, we don't have a chance.

"Obviously, a tough situation, down 3-1 now. For us right now, it's a situation where we've just got to play every game like it's our last. We've put ourselves in this situation so many times ... obviously, it's catching up with us."

Only eight of the 165 teams to have trailed an NBA playoff series 3-1 have come back to win it. The Pistons trailed the Cavaliers 3-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals heading to Cleveland and turned the series around. They would need a win tonight at the Palace of Auburn Hills just to get back to that tough spot.

"I feel we're coming back (to Miami)," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "There's no reason we shouldn't go back and play well at home."

The Pistons have been in this predicament before. They rallied from a 3-1 deficit against the Nets in the 2004 Eastern Conference semifinals on their way to the championship.

But they did not seem as outmatched in that series as they have in falling behind early in three of the four games against Miami and with Wade shooting better, 69.3 percent, than anyone ever has while averaging 30 points in a playoff series.

"We don't want to get too high and mighty," O'Neal said. "The job is not done yet, so we just want to stay focused. We're going to have our hands full, but if we do what we're supposed to do, we'll be fine."

The Pistons barely look — or sound — like the Pistons. Their previously dogged defense has been overwhelmed. Their offense has broken down. They have turned, of all things, deferential.

"We have been down 3-1 before — not against a team as good as the Heat, though," guard Chauncey Billups said. "They're playing great, man. You've got to give it to them. They're playing great ball. They're great players playing phenomenal."

Phenomenal enough to render the Pistons unrecognizable — and a game from being eliminated.